Industrial Wastewater
Radio Active Water Treatment
GrahamTek is one of very few global companies that has experience in the treatment of Radio Active water in complex environments. Treatments are specifically applied to Uranium and Radium mines and refineries for cleaning of contaminated equipment and other materials, where the wastewater contains high concentrations of Uranium 226 isotopes. These are challenging designs requiring minimal footprint, high degree of safety, residuals management and varying feedwater matrixes.
Mining
Water is essential for mining operations globally. It is typically used in dust suppression, equipment cleaning, wet grinding, washing, flotation, leaching, tailing pumping, product transportation, cooling & pollution control. Regional and Public Water utilities are impacted by mining operations such as Acid Rock Drainage from mine waste, Residual Chemicals inline wastewater, Tailings water and other Significant Water use. On the other hand, mines are subjected to higher regulations in terms of wastewater effluent and environmental liability while facing an increasing level of water shortages. The contention between mine water demand and the general population in rural areas is increasing as a result of drought and increasing urban water demand. Mines globally are experiencing a continued increase in regulations relating to withdrawal of water from public sources for mining operations. As a result, mines need to evaluate alternative sources for water.
The GrahamTek custom designed Submersible Membrane Bio Reactor (S-MBR) combined with its SuperFlux® 16” RO systems provide a full turnkey and cost-effective operation for mines to:
• Reuse Mine Water
• Treat Effluent Water
• Treat Acid Rock Drainage
• Treat Acid Mine Drainage
• Remove Metal from wastewater
Particular Mining Applications
REUSE
The GrahamTek 16” SuperFlux® systems can be completely integrated with mine operations. Being able to operate in unforgiving conditions demanding in excess of 70 Bar pressures, high temperature, low energy, high volume and a small footprint makes GrahamTek the most applicable deep shaft water reuse solution. Units as small as 700 L/min to as large as 14 000 L/min can be provided.
RECOVERY
Reopening of closed mines where shafts or pits are flooded with Acid Rock Drainage and other wastewater.
DEWATERING, DRAINING & ACID WATER
Draining and withdrawal of water from shafts or pits flooded to surface including acid drainage is achieved using a custom designed pre-filtration and reverse osmosis unit. The GrahamTek solutions are designed to achieve dewatering capacities in excess of 30 ML/day applications, that will remove elevated concentrations of metals and discharge water to industrial or potable standards. An integrated solution approach using the GrahamTek S-MBR pre-filtration and 16” SuperFlux® system effectively removes metals, arsenic and suspended solids, and achieves balanced PH levels.
Textile
Water is used extensively throughout textile processing operations. Almost all dyes, specialty chemicals and finishing chemicals are applied to textile substrates from water baths. In addition, most fabric preparation steps, including desizing, scouring, bleaching, and mercerizing, use water.
Effluent starts at the early stage of the raw material where material such as cotton, leather, wool contains several types of pollutant including; blood, faeces, animal dip, crop protection chemicals etc. The second leg of textile processing contains several other chemicals such as salts, acids, bases, buffers, oxidising agents, reducing agents, metals, waxes, oils, fibre, etc.
These processes use approximately 160-220 litres of water for every 1 Kg of textile processed, resulting in a high volume user and polluter of water. Textile industries are now facing new regulatory requirements globally that affect the cost of disposing of water through normal wastewater systems. It is forcing the industry to evaluate reuse of water sources on a large and competitive scale. An average sized textile factory uses 1 100 000 litres of potable water per day and the larger dye houses use up to 10.4 Million Litres per day. Effluent is at an average rate of 78%-83% of fresh water use.
Power Stations
Seawater Desalination and Power Plants form an ideal partnership. The benefit of a specific integrated design combination whereby turbine power is utilised in the high pressure process for desalination can significantly reduce the cost of water production. GrahamTek has extensive experience in providing seawater desalination to power plants. Click here to review technical reports on similar applications.
Oil and Gas
GrahamTek has proven technology in the Oil and Gas industry with some of its clients being the global super major companies. The GrahamTek 16" SuperFlux® RO systems have applications in speciality areas such as Water Based Drilling Muds and Fracking Water.Water Based Drilling Muds
GrahamTek 16” SuperFlux® RO is used to produce water for the Water Based Muds (WBM) used by drilling rigs in oil and gas exploration.
Mud is a vital part of drilling operations. The specific quality of water has a major impact on the fluid dynamics used in the drilling process; it must positively influence and be chemically compatible with the formations being drilled. Also, salinity must be specifically maintained so as not to cause clay swelling or other problems such as changes in the thixotropic or shear thinning quality of the WBM. Providing a consistently high quality of industrial drilling water is achieved through a sea water desalination process which includes pre-filtration and a specific design application of the GrahamTek 16” SuperFlux® system.